Give Up the Ghost
by HistoryLights
Summary: "Uh, hey Axe?" Viper called out cautiously. The hunched figure in front of them took a single staggering step forward. Blue grabbed his friend's arm tightly. Something wasn't right. The skeleton monster look more...wrong... than usual. Viper cleared his throat and tried again. "Axe? Are you okay over there? We haven't seen you for a few hours." The figure let out an ungodly shriek
1. Chapter 1

_Walls have ears; Doors have eyes; Trees have voices; Beasts tell lies; Beware the rain; Beware the snow; Beware the man; You think you know"- Songs of Sapphire_

Chapter One

Autumn was in full swing in the little town of Ebott. The gigantic trees that surrounded the buildings and houses were in the middle of changing from brilliant greens to fiery shades of reds, orange and yellow, and drifting down to cover the lawns and sidewalks so they crunched beneath the booted feet of the residents going about their daily lives. The air had taken on a crisper note and the balmy temperatures of summer were slowly dropping to cooler ones of fall. Shorts and tank tops were traded for jackets, long pants and leggings and flip flops and sandals for boots and tennis shoes.

Viper was spending a quiet evening at home. His older brother was off with their group of friends at the local pumpkin patch and corn maze for the night. He had decided to stay behind and review all of the reports he'd missed while he'd been on vacation. He was sitting in his living room, trying to read the messy writing of the guards, but he kept getting distracted. The distraction came in the form of a small, hyperactive skeleton monster nicknamed Blue

His friend had come over to keep him 'company' while the others were out. Viper had been slightly suspicious when the other had come bounding over with a family pack of tacos and one of his favorite movies. According to Blue, pumpkin patches and mazes were boring and he was itching for the company of his best friend. Viper actually managed to go through several reports before Blue finally brought up the true reason he'd come over.

"A...camping...trip...?" Viper's tone was flat."You are aware that we have actual jobs to go to right?" He stared, unimpressed at his friend, who only continued to smiled widely at him as if he hadn't just made the weirdest suggestion ever. He leaned back against the arm of the couch with his stupid grin.

An empty box of blueberry Nutragrain bars lay on its side between them, along with a half empty taco box while the TV played the movie softly in the background.

"Okay hear me out," hhe said explained."My follower count has hit a major plateau so I searched up this 24 hour challenge and I think it might be just the thing to reverse it. And I know for a fact that you've that you could use a break from all this boring paperwork. I found this old abandoned cabin out by the woods a few towns away and it's supposed to be super haunted."

Viper glared at her in disbelief. "I should have known that this was some stupid bit for Instagram." he muttered. Blue gasped in mock outrage and placed a hand over his soul.

"I can't believe you'd say something like that." he pouted. "Maybe I'm feeling particularly adventurous, something wrong with that?" Viper raised an eyebrow.

"Three things," he said, fighting back a grin. "One: you absolutely hate nature remember? That's why you refused to go to a corn maze?" He set his paperd down on his lap and held out a finger. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting any more work done tonight. "Two: You once told me that the only way you could be happy was being surrounded with wifi. And three: A cabin out in the middle of the woods is highly unlikely to have anything that you would consider 'civilized'_._" Blue rolled his eyes.

"My point still stands. We deserve a break And we'd obviously go over the weekend." he grumbled. Viper grinned, knowing that he'd caught him red handed.

"Right," he said and leaned back against his own armrest. "So besides the obvious, how the hell did you manage to convince Swapy to let you out of his sight for an entire weekend?" Blue raised a knowing eyebrow. Viper really didn't appreciate that look.

"What?" he asked warily. "What did you do?"

Blue grinned sheepishly. "Well, he and I have come to an _understanding_. He agreed to let me do this one challenge as long as I agreed not to go alone"

Viper blinked. "Yeah, not really interested in hearing you screech in fear," he answered stiffly. "Why doesn't Swapy go with you?" Blue deflated. He slumped over and crossed his arm over his chest.

"C'mon, Grandma," he whined. "You and I both know that Paps would just fall asleep during the whole thing. I promise that it'll be fun." Viper rolled his eyes again and picked up his report again. He straighten them up and tried to go back to reading them.

"You and I must have very different definitions of the word 'fun'." he commented. Blue quieted down after that. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes before a skull appeared in his line of vision.

"Blue…" he said. "What are you doing?" The other monster looked up at him sad eyes.

"Viiiipeeerr" Blue whimpered. "How can I go without my bestie?" Well goddamnit. Why did he have to pull out the puppy eyes? He knew they were his fucking weakness.

He sighed and once again set aside his work. He knew a losing battle when he saw it. "When is this supposedly life changing trip happening?" Blue grinned wider.

"Next Friday. Paps is helping me get some new equipment for the video and safety and things," he said. Blue was getting excited again, tiny stars lighting up his bright blue eyes.

He stared at his friend with an unreadable expression on his face. "Let me get this straight." he asked. "You want me to go camping in the woods all weekend. Just you and I alone in a creepy. haunted cabin ?"

Blue bit his lip, suddenly unsure. "Please Viper?" he asked with wide eyes. Viper cringed at the return of his puppy eyes. He groaned and covered his face.

"Fine." he said. "But if this blows up in your face, don't come whining to me."

The evening air was cool and getting colder by the minute as the two friends stood beside Swapy car, bags heavy with clothing and equipment and jackets zipped all the way up. Blue was leaned up against the hood, scrolling on his phone. He was probably updating his instagram again. It was nearly 5 o'clock and the two were anxious to start their trip.

Unfortunately, they were being stalled by both of their older brothers puttering around them, making sure that they had everything they needed for the weekend. Swapy had even splurged and gotten Blue a long distance two way radio in case of emergencies.

"You sure you're gonna be alright, Bro?" Swapy asked, double checking Blue's pack. Blue rolled his eyes and looked up from his phone. He knew that his brother was worried, that didn't make it any less irritating to deal with.

"It's three freaking days, Bro," he snapped. "I'm sure that, Grandma and I can handle ourselves for that long." Swapy frowned. He still didn't look happy. Viper wasn't fairing much better with his brother.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he whimpered. "What if something happens and you can't reach us?" Viper placed his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Like Blue said, it's only three days. Just make sure to feed Kiwi and you can always call Iris if you get lonely right?" Pup pouted but nodded anyway.

"Can we go now?" Blue whined. "We're already going to be driving like an hour and it's getting dark." Swapy huffed and drew his brother into a tight hug.

"Alright, you shit," he laughed. "let me know when you get to the motel okay? And try to keep us updated. I love you Little Brother." Blue hugged him back.

"I love you too Paps," he replied. "I love you too." The Swapfell brothers embraced briefly as well. Pup gave him a tearful goodbye and pulled away. Blue and Viper hefted their bags to put them into the back of the car. They got into the vehicle and waved once more to their brothers.

Finally they were off.

The first twenty minutes were spent with the friends jokingly ribbing one another about various things. Viper was immensly amused about the outfit that the ever stylish Blue had chosen to wear. "I thought we were going camping," he chirped with a grin. "Not lumber-jacking. Or did I miss the memo?"

Blue stuck his tongue out at him. "Laugh it up, Grandma," he quipped. "You and your hipster teen ensemble aren't much better. What made you think wearing ripped jeans to a cabin in the woods was a good idea?" Viper laughed and settled against his seat.

"I wore an actual jacket didn't I?." he said in his defense. He laughed again when Blue poked him sharply in his side.

"Whatever," he huffed. "Thanks for coming with me."

The drive seemed to take forever, as the scenery changed from cold asphalt of the town to gravel and tree lined roads. The sun was very nearly set, casting slight shadows across the road as they drove. As the temperature fell, Blue turned the heat on low so that they wouldn't start getting cold.

The cabin they were headed to was near the edge of the backwoods country an hour and a half outside the campus. The region was covered in expansive forests and nature trails. There were a few people, who kept vacations home around the area but for the most part, the only ones who went to the trails were campers and bikers who wanted to explore the maze-like trails and caves.

"So where exactly are we going again?" Viper asked boredly. Blue shot him a look. "We have been driving for a while, Blue." They had been driving for 45 minutes.

"Maybe we could grab dinner before we get to the cabin? Is there a diner or something near by?"

"I like the way you think, Grandma." Blue snickered. "I haven't eaten since like noon and I'm freaking starving!" Viper glared at him.

"You are utterly ridiculous. How did you forget to eat for that long?" he said. Blue blew a raspberry at his best friend.

"And to answer your question," he continued, ignoring Viper's last comment. "We're headed to the Black Rock region." They drove in silence for a while longer when Viper decided to search up the cabin they'd be staying in. Blue tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove through the darkening scenery. Viper pulled his phone from where it sat in the cup holder. He winced as the car hit a bump in the road.

"We're almost to the motel, I promise" Blue said sympathetically.

"Thank god. I swear if you hit one more pot hole, we're going find out if magical skeletons can barf" Viper shot back. He did his best to ignore the rattle of the car as he typed the region name into his web search engine. Most of the articles that came up were the standard weather and hunting game reports. There were a few mentions of people who had done out of the ordinary things such as catching a fish the size of a tire or some weird story about a deer or squirrel.

His eyes widened though when he caught sight of an article further down on the list. "Wow, I knew you said that the area had a bit of history but this you didn't say it was so freaking...morbid." he said said, interrupting the silence. "How did you even find this place; .com?" The car was silent for all of five second before Blue piped up irritably.

" It was on a list of place to go for the challenge," he said. "What exactly are we dealing with here? Witches? Ghoulies? An army of people with Edge's terrible fashion sense?" Viper bit his lip, a sudden uneasiness sinking in his stomach as he clicked on the related article at the bottom of the page.

"I have no idea actually?" he replied. "Most of the pages are about people going missing and winding up in strange locations when they're found or worse, coming up in extremely disturbing positions, dead." Silence reigned once again in the jeep.

"Uh… disturbing how exactly?" Blue asked quietly. Viper scrolled through the article he was currently on.

"Well, for starters, the whole region used to belong to this Native American tribe and of course the setters forced them off. The guy in charge of the resettlement was a real nasty asshole who basically treated the natives there like complete garbage."

"That's pretty par for the course in Human History, Bud." Blue commented. Viper cleared his throat to get him to stop talking.

"Well, apparently in the 1700's, there was a whole uprising lead by the chief or something and they managed to kill or defeat a lot of the soldiers." Despite the topic, Viper really did find the history fascinating.

"What else...?" Blue asked, sounding slightly wary of their destination now. Viper continued scrolling, summing up the rather long article.

"Well, this chief was ultimately caught and the rebellion was put down. The captain ordered him to be banished into the surrounding forests where it was assumed that the elements would kill him, given that it was close to winter. Anyone who was caught helping him would face execution by hanging."

"Man, what a dick," muttered his friend. Viper hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, and here's where the story gets really dark." he said.

"Oh now it gets dark? And here I thought that the systematic oppression and genocide of a group of people sounded like so much fun. You know, since humans seem to like doing it so much." Blue said sarcastically. The other skeleton shushed him and continued on.

Viper really did not like where this was going. "Uh, well, keep in mind that this is just a local legend in the area but apparently the chief was also a practitioner of some pretty dark stuff and when he was banished, he cursed the land and all who dwelled on it. He said that the land would never again bare the descendants of any living being and that the land now belonged to the spirits that the soldiers had wronged and any who dared to trespass would suffer a fate worse than death. The Captain wrote it off as the ramblings of a mad man and paid the warning no mind.

That winter, several of the children of the Native people mysteriously disappeared. The Natives blamed it the chief's curse and the continued occupation of the captain and his men. There was another rebellion and this time, they succeeded. The captain was forced to flee. The natives hoped that this would quell the curse but alas the very next winter, even more children would vanish. Ultimately the land was abandoned in the early 1800's."

"Right," said Blue. "So child killing mystery creature hell bent on revenge. Fantastic. Anything else we should know about?" Viper's brow furrowed. He wasn't sure if he should tell his friend the next bit. The uneasy feeling was growing with every passing tree.

"It says that everything remained peaceful and the supposed curse was all but forgotten about until about 50 years ago the strange incidents picked again with the drowning of eight year old Eliza Murphy. The young girl was camping with her parents and her father had taken his daughter with him to go fish along one of the small rivers. In front of like 11 eyewitnesses, the girl was pulled into the by some what some said was a ghostly hand. Her body was never recovered."

"Well, that's unsettling." remarked Blue. The other hummed in response.

"From there, it looks like things just keep getting worse and the bulk of the incidents are centered around this particular stretch called the Warrior's Respite. There's a story where a mother and her three kids were vacationing in one of the cabins and were all found brutally slaughtered inside their beds. No one recalls seeing anyone other than the family entering or leaving the cabin the day or the night they were killed. An ex boyfriend was brought in for question but the case is still unsolved.

Most recently, a young boy named Robin Davis disappeared from the site he'd been camping at with his grandfather. The party that was sent to search for was never heard from again and there was still no sign of Robin. A second party was formed to look for the first one and the little boy. The boy wasn't found, but they did find the first party. All 10 members that had included rangers, wilderness guides and even hunters were found at the end of the Warrior's Respite near the entrance to the thickest part of the woods. All were ripped to shreds and all of their intestines and organs were suspiciously missing."

"Oh god," gagged Blue.

"The second party immediately radioed for the police and waited for them about a mile away from the disturbing site. By the time the authorities arrived and shown to the crime scene, every single body had been removed as if they had never been there in the first place. It had only been 15 minutes from the time the police were radioed to the time they returned to the scene."

Neither spoke as Viper finished the article. The only sound in the jeep was the music that grew steadily more creepy as the seconds passed and the gentle hum of the engine. Outside, the sky continued to darken as the sun sunk lower below the horizon. The trees that lined the sad one lane country road were taller, older, tossing eerie shadows that seemed to stretch forever in the rapidly fading light.

"It uh, doesn't get much better from there," Viper eventually said when the air in the jeep grew too thick for his liking. "There's a few more related pages, if you want me to keep going." The swap skeleton shrugged beside him.

"Beats staring at the rocks on the road," he said. Viper chewed on his lip again and clicked on the next page.

"Okay," he started again. "It looks everything is quiet until like three years ago when five high schoolers went into the woods beyond the Warrior's Respite. They wanted to see if the rumors of the curse were true so they left on a Monday night in the middle of summer. No one heard from them until Wednesday the following week. One of the teens, 17 year old Shay McWilliams was seen stumbling into the rangers station with torn bloody clothes and cuts all down her arms and face. When they asked where she had come from and where the rest of her group was, she simply replied with a pale face and blank eyes, that the fakers had them. The rangers asked what he meant by that but the only thing she would say was that the fakers had stolen them and they were gone now. Shay was taken into protective custody to try and get more information out of her but she was deemed mentally and emotionally unstable and admitted to a psychiatric ward at a hospital over 500 miles away. And just like every other story. no trace of the other four teenagers has ever been found."

Viper found himself shivering in horror. "The police and rangers have since tried to question Shay twice about what happened to her and her friends during the week she was missing. The only thing she has said is that the man in blue saved her."

"Jesus Fucking Christ Blue," breathed Viper when he finished. "I thought we were supposed to be taking a break from stress and craziness, not driving head first into Creepytown, USA. Why do people still go to this place?" Blue shrugged uneasily as he guided the vehicle around a sharp bend. By now the sun had completely set and it the only light around was the headlights and the soft glow from the moon and from Viper's phone screen.

"I highly doubt there is some mysterious Native American spirit in the woods, kidnapping children, murdering and dismembering people and then hiding their corpses." Blue said trying to sound calm.

"Yeah, but how did you not look at any of these stories before deciding on this stupid trip?" Viper asked shakily. "What's more, we're less than two hours from this place and never heard a goddamn thing about any of this. And what about that girl who had a fucking _meltdown?_ I don't know Blue, I don't trust this at all." He sighed, turning off his phone, putting in his jacket pocket. Blue shrugged. It was a little unnerving how casual he was being about all it.

"People go missing in the woods all the time, the news can't possibly cover every single case. And most of these stories sound like they just took the history of Mount Ebott and ebellished it to make it sound scary. I'm sure we'll be fine."

Viper twisted and fidgeted in his seat. "That still doesn't mean that it's not fucked up," he muttered, crossing his arms and glaring. "Maybe Paps was right about this. All in favor of ditching and going to see a movie instead?"

Blue scoffed. "I swear there's nothing to worry about. What happened to the big tough Captain of the Guard I know?"

"Who asked you?" he snapped.

"Besides, it's way too late to back out now, We're in the town right before Warrior's Respite." In fact, while the two had been busy bickering back and forth, Blue had steered them into the parking lot of small motel, lively and bustling with other travelers and truck drivers on the road with their loads.

As they were parked, Viper tried to calm his pounding heart. His best friend was right. There was nothing in those woods. Every place had its owns urban legends and stories that they told to keep their kids behaving. He took a deep breath and went to open his door. He and Blue were going to have weekend of senseless bonding and then they would return to the stress that was their lives on Monday.

Everything was going to be fine. He was sure of it.

Blue fought the urge to squirm as the desk attendant check over his ID for their room. It felt like every eye in the entire motel lobby was on him He knew that out here he was in the minority with his pale alabaster bones and nearly iridescent blue eyes. He knew that his brother understandably concerned about this trip. And why wouldn't he be? With the state that his anxiety in? He was as likely to suffer a panic attack as he was to get lost in these stupid woods.

Being with Viper somewhat eased his worries about how the whole thing. The Swapfell monster would not normally be someone that he'd ever seen himself befriending but they had gotten close quicker than either of them had anticipated after sharing stories of their families and of their childhoods. And for that, Blue would be eternally grateful. Even finding out that Blue suffered from severe social anxiety hadn't made them any less close.

He and Viper fought just like they were brothers, they even dressed so similar that Blue frequently found himself spouting out the same friendly jabs. And Pup reminded him so much of his own brother, that it was painful to talk to him sometimes.

In any case, he was glad for the other's reassuing presence at his back. The attendant, a middle aged human woman, was typing into her computer and verifying that they'd prebooked their room for one night. Well, Paps had booked it for them; his older brother was determined that the two younger skeletons would be as safe as possible while they were away. The motel he'd booked them at was small but it was in a decent part of town and even had a free breakfast in the morning. Hell, Paps had even bought him a whole host of expensive camping equipment, including a fancy two way radio in case he and Viper somehow got separated and even a radio beacon that would alert authorities of their position in case of an emergency.

Finally, the desk attendant finished with his ID and handed it back with a tired smile. "Alright Dears," she said kindly and took a plain white envelope from a drawer under the desk. "You're all checked in, these are your keys. Your room is outside and to the right. Breakfast is from 6 am to 10 am and check out is at 9am. There's no smoking inside the rooms itself but there are several desinated spots outside." Blue nodded back at her and took the cards from her.

"Thanks, we'll be sure to remember that." he said and gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. He felt so much out of his depth, thankfully the attendant appeared not to notice.

_Viper PoV_

"You boys from outta town then?" the woman behind the counter asked. Viper very nearly scowled. He knew that it wasn't how she'd meant it, that she was just making conversation but like wasn't it obvious? He didn't say this though. He didn't want to come off as rude, nor did he want to tell her the real reason that they were out here.

"Yes ma'am," he said politely. "We're from Ebott about an hour south of here. Our brothers guilted us into taking a break and we read that there were some good places to camp around here."

'Macy' as her name tag read, paused when he mentioned camping, Viper noticed. "Oh is that so? Getting out here kinda late arencha?" she asked hesitantly. "Driving up that way can be kinda difficult after dark if ya don't know the area well enough."

Blue grinned at her. "Yeah, I did some research before we headed out here. We're gonna head out in the morning." The woman nodded and seemed to want to say or ask something else, however she just gave a tiny shake of her head and turned back to her computer.

"Well, you boys have a good night then. If you get hungry there's a diner down the block that's open 24 hours."

The two boys thanked her and walked out of the lobby back into the night to grab their bags and head to their room. "Well.." muttered Blue. "that was weird." He stretched his arms and unlocked his brother's trunk. Viper pulled both of their bags from the car and set Blue's on the pavement.

"Well given what we just read about the place, I'm sure she's just concerned." he reasoned slingng his heavy pack over his shoulder. "I mean, wouldn't you be if you knew that the woods by your town was known for some pretty knarly stuff?" Blue rolled his eyes and nudged the other boy fondly.

"Shut up," he said, picking his own pack up by the top loop. He locked the car and shoved the keys into the side pocket of his bag. "and no says "knarly" anymore weirdo." Viper laughed and nudged him back. The two of them walked to their room, both feeling tired, despite the fact it was barely 7 o'clock. Viper fumbled with the key card for a second before the faded white door swung open to their temporary room.

Viper flicked on the light by the door. It was a fairly standard room, off white walls, and brown wooden molding. A door that presumably led to the bathroom was right next to the entrance. Heavy dark blue curtains covered the window directly in front of them. Underneath the window was a large air conditioner. Two queen sized beds, sat in the middle of the room, dressed in blue bedding that he was sure was going to be super uncomfortable to sleep on. Beside each of them was a plain looking tables with drawers with a small lamp on each one. A television sat dark on top of a large dresser. Beside the dresser was a desk with a small card and a small pad of paper with a pen. The two skeletons walked into the room and set their bags down. Blue flopped onto the bed clostest to the window and spread out to get comfortable.

Viper took more care, sitting down carefully on the empty bed and sighed. "How much further is it to the Respite from here?" he asked.

Blue turned his head to look at his friend. "We're not actually too far right now. Maybe about another half-hour at most? But like the lady up front said, night here can get kinda dangerous, a lot of deer like to come out after the sun goes down and with all the trees, it can make it pretty difficult to see sometimes." he answer absently. Viper nodded, trying not to think about the strange articles that he'd read (and that he fully intended to research more about when Blue went to sleep). A lot of cultures and regions made up stories about spooks in order to teach their children about the dangers of the worlds or to explain some event that the science of the day could not. Something about those stories though just didn't sit right with him. And he was insistent on figuring out what it was.

Viper watched his friend from the corner of his eye. He knew what that absentminded look meant. And he absolutely hated it. Blue was always dragging him along on his stupid Instagram adventures. The last time he'd seen a look like that, Blue had just read about some recent sighting of some monster called Big Foot and wanted to check the authenticity of the claims. He really didn't understand the Swap skeleton fascination with the darker side of fairy and folk tales. He liked to know the story behind the story and although they'd never gone as far out as they were now, his friend had dragged them on multiple excursions to the small wooded area around the base of Mount Ebott in the pouring rain for six hours before calling it quits. Both of them had ended up missing nearly a full week of work due to coming down with the flu. Alphys had been furious when he'd found out. He could still hear his co-captain's chiding voice.

"_Sans, you have to be careful,_" she'd said. "_there are things in this world that not even we monsters can comprehend._" He'd scoffed then.

Most of the stories Blue found were completely bogus. All that had ever come out of their little expeditions, were muddy clothes and stuffy noses. And he was sure this would be no different. At least, he hoped so. There was something so authentic that it actually made him more nervous when he thought about how the only way they had of contacting the outside world would be a tiny radio and a beacon.

Blue must have noticed his silence. "You dreaming about pizza over there?" he joked. Viper stuck his tongue out at him.

"No, I'm just thinking, that's all." he replied and turned to the door. "Are you totally sure that this place is safe?" Blue huffed. Viper glared at him.

"Whether or not there's some supernatural thing killing and torturing people out there, there have been a lot of accidents and it seems pretty far removed from society. Maybe we should pay attention to that?"

Blue rolled his eyes again clearly so completely done with the topic. He sat up on the bed. "I told you, nothing is going to happen. It's a pretty quiet place so whenever someone stupid decides that they are stronger than nature, the internet hones in on it and makes it out to be way worse than it is." he said.

"And all the locals love to spook people from out of town. It's just how it is in small towns. Nothing else much to do otherwise." Logically, Viper knew that what Blue was saying was true. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was...off. Blue seemed almost… too casual about the whole thing. He decided no to think too hard about it. Maybe this was Blue's way of dealing with it.

They sat in silence for a bit until Blue groaned and pull himself up from the motel mattress. "Why don't we go and grab some food from that diner? Maybe we can ask where we can grab groceries for Saturday night and Sunday morning?" He walked around to stand in front of Viper and slung his arms over his shoulders. "C'mon, Grandma, I'll bet they have some awesome burgers here."

Viper didn't look happy about the suggestion but he really was hungry. He allowed the swap skeleton to pull him up from his mattress and out their door.

They got back into their car and pulled out of the parking lot. Viper leaned against the cold window and stared out at the small town as they drove. The diner wasn't too difficult to find as it was the only building besides the motel that seemed to have a lot of people parked in front. They found a place to park and stepped out into the almost freezing air.

They were seated almost immediately by a friendly looking fox monster. They gave their drink order and sat in their booth to observe the diner and its patrons. Viper noticed that most of the people were older, many of them male. Maybe they were the truck drivers from the motel? There were a few families with children dotted around. The kids were screaming happily and munching on their fries while their parents discussed their weekend plans. Seeing so many people, lively and eating helped to ease his lingering fear from earlier.

"Alright, I got two colas here. Are we ready to order yet?" the voice of their server startled him out of his thoughts. Shoot. He'd completely forgotten to look at the menu. Thank god for Blue.

"We'll have a double order the bacon cheeseburger," his friend said, passing both of their menus over to the fox. "And maybe some extra ketchup for the fries?" The fox nodded and scribbled their order on his pad before running off toward the kitchen.

Viper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nasal bone. "Hey, I'm sorry," Blue said suddenly. Viper looked over at his friend who was staring down at the beat up table with a guitly expression.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, pulling his hand away from his skull. "You haven't done anything wrong?" Blue shrugged and didn't look at him.

"I just feel like I've been super pushy this entire time and now you're freaking out." he admitted. "If you're really that uncomfortable, we don't have to do the challenge; we can go home in the morning."

Viper really hated how kind his best friend actually was. Most everyone thought that he was shallow and didn't care about anything other than views. If only they could see this side of Blue. The soft unsure side that genuinely cared for others and only wanted to be the best monster that he could be. He gave his friend a small smile and reached out to grab his arm.

"It's okay Blue," he said. "We've done everything possible to make sure that we're safe. Yeah, those stories freaked me out but we've faced scarier things before and come out on top." Blue grinned back at him, confident once again. Not to long after, their waiter appeared with their burgers and an extra bottle of ketchup. He dropped the plates off and after checking if they needed anyting else, walked off to check his other tables.

The two joked and laughed with one another as they ate and flicked fries at one another. They even facetimed with Blue's brother to let him know that they were both fine and had made it to their first destination safely. They soon forgot their worries as Swapy made them laugh and assured them that everything was fine back home and to have fun. He even transferred some extra funds to Blue's card just for the fun of it.

By the time that the two had paid and made their way back out to the car, Viper's phone read eight forty-nine. The air had a definite bite to it now and he shivered. Blue sighed heavily, his breath visible in chill. They looked at each other over the top of the car and laughed loudly.

Blue leaned his skull against the hood. "Ugh, people are exhausting," he giggled. Viper couldn't agree more.

_Blue's PoV_

He was hesitant to tell Viper about the other part of his plan. He was just so glad that his best friend was here with him in this desolate place. Although he'd been really glad that Viper had missed the really bad articles, if he had seen those, Blue was certain that the Swapfell monster would have put a stop to this adventure.

Hopefully, the third member of their party would be waiting for them when they got back…

He followed slowly behind Viper as he opened the door to their room. He was definitely feeling nervous now. There was no telling how his best friend would react if _he_ was in there. Viper flicked on the light and froze. He stumbled forward when Blue ran into his back.

"Welcome back!" came a lazy voice from Blue's chosen bed. Blue peeked over Viper's shoulder to see the figure who'd entered their room. He was another skeleton monster, but he was dressed very differently from the other two. He wore a thick tattered blue hoodie and a ratty white shirt. He wore long black track pants and worn pink slippers. His skull was severely cracked in places and he had an enormous hole above his left eye socket which was completely dark. His other eye glowed with red magic and he had a cheerful grin on his face.

"Blue..." Viper asked lowly. Blue swallowed thickly.

"Uh…. Yea...buddy?" he asked nervously.

"What the _fuck_ is _AXE_ doing in our room?"

Well at least he hadn't hit him...yet…

The horrortale skeleton was set cross legged the bed that Blue had claimed earlier. He knew that Axe's joyful grin was meant to be friendly but Viper really just couldn't help the cold shiver that traveled up his spine at the sight of it. It was probably one of the most intimidating things he'd ever seen in his life; slightly too wide at the edges and it definitely did not reach the terrifying monster's one remaining eye-light.

Blue didn't answer him, which really spoke volumes to his guilt about knowing that other skeleton was coming. Instead he pushed Viper aside and bounded into the room under the guise of surprise at seeing the other. Jesus, this guy really couldn't lie to save his life could he?

"AXE!" Blue called out excitedly and leapt onto the older skeleton, pulling him into a (excuse the pun) bone-crushing hug. "I can't believe you actually made it!" Axe, for his part, squeaked in shock at the gesture, clearly unused to such a welcome.

"H-hello?" he whispered. The bed squeaked as Blue adjusted himself to be able to look at his best friend and still keep a hold of his captive. He gave Viper a nervous smile.

"I uh ran into him a couple days ago and thought it'd be fun to invite him along?" He posed it like a question, yet Viper knew that it was anything but. He was giving him such an earnest look that Viper knew that he would accept any decision the other made. He sighed in irritation. Goddamn Blue's bleeding heart.

"Whatever," he said, walking calmly over to his own bed and stripping off his jacket. "It's your damn circus, I'm just along for the ride." He sat down and started unlacing his heavy hiking boots, and pulling out the clothing he wanted to sleep in that night.

"But in case you haven't actually noticed," he commented casually. "There's three of us now, and only two beds. And I'm pretty sure that we only brought _two_ sleeping bags. I really wish that you'd think things through sometimes. He heard Blue blow a raspberry at his back.

"We'll just to share. That won't upset your delicate sensibilities will it Grandma?" he ribbed. Viper snorted.

"Sharing with you is like cuddling a giant octopus," he said and laid on the mattress so that he could see the others, even if they were upside down. "And that still doesn't solve our sleeping bag problem tomorrow."

Blue grinned at him and tilted his head. Axe had a faraway look in his eyes, but was otherwise comfortable in Blue's embrace. Looks like he'd already checked out for the night. And really, he couldn't agree more, it was barely 10 o'clock but Viper was ready to just pass out himself. He yawned and closed his eyes.

"Well if we plan to beat the snow tomorrow, we should probably leave early." he murmured. The bed dipped and something nudged him over a bit. He started slightly before realizing that it just his best friend. It unnerved him how silent the swap skeleton could move when he wanted. Guess he was serious about sharing then.

"If you strangle me in your sleep," he muttered, scooting over to give Blue some room. "I will murder you." Blue chuckled and continued to maneuver him to one side of the bed and pull the comforter over them. It took a few minutes but the two managed to arrange themselves comfortable underneath the cheap starchy sheets. Blue immediately curled around Viper, trying to leech heat from him. Dear god why were his feet _so fucking cold_?! How was that even possible, he was a skeleton for crying out loud.

"You two are really good friends," Axe suddenly commented. Blue laughed and snuggled deeper under the covers.

"hell yeah we are!" he responded. His voice was muffled by his pillow so it sounded more like "hev yev vr" Viper snorted and got comfortable himself.

"It's more like he's a damn tick that just won't go away. I think I've adjusted well considering." he grunted when Blue kicked his shin.

"Shush now. Sleep." he said sleepily.

It was shocking just how quickly the weather changed when the group finally piled into the car the following morning. The sky was filled with dark rolling clouds and the wind that was blowing was bitterly cold and cut through their bones like butter. Blue looked up at the sky with some apprehension, shivering in his puffy cyan coat. He wasn't all that keen about spending the weekend in a supposedly haunted cabin in the thick of the back woods. Having to do it in the snow would make it all that much more terrible.

Sure, this whole thing had been his idea in the first place, but he really hated being outside in the cold. Yet he knew that he had to do this; there was no turning back now, at least he wouldn't be suffering alone.

"Ugh, I thought you said that it wasn't supposed to snow until later this afternoon?" Viper griped from beside him. The swapfell skeleton was dressed similarly to Blue except his coat was more like a pea coat than Blue's comfy puffy one. He and Axe had spent the last ten minutes playing tetris with all of their gear, trying to fit it into the back of the car while still having room for Axe to sit comfortably. Blue shrugged and continued fiddling with the new camera his brother had gotten him just for this trip.

"I don't control the weather, Grandma," he murmured, distracted with the many buttons on the device. Viper glanced at his friend. Blue was hiding something from him. He'd noticed it when he'd gone to grab something for breakfast that morning and found the other skeleton muttering to himself on his return. Axe was no where to be found, but that was normal for him. Blue had only waved him off dismissively when he asked if there was anything wrong. No matter, he'd figure it out later.

"Thanks for that Gandalf," he rolled his eyes, "I'm driving this time, I'm not about to puke because you don't know what a speed limit is." Blue didn't even try to look like he was listening to him. Viper shivered in the blistering cold. He was definitely getting in the car now.

"AHA!" Blue shouted triumphantly when the camera beeped and his grinning skull appeared in the viewfinder.

"What's up YouTube," he introduced cheerfully. "It's me, ya boi! I know I've been gone for a while and there's a really good reason for that; which I will explain at the end of this video. I've got a brand new segment and I think you guys will be really excited about it..."

Viper rolled his eyes and left him to it. He opened the driver's side of the car and slid in, nearly moaning in delight at the heat coming from the heat. He caught a glimpse of Axe sprawled out over their camping packs and gear looking quite content to nap on the many zippers and pointy edges. Maybe Blue had invited him to scare off any other… unsavory… individuals they came across in the woods. If Axe didn't kill them first.

"Alright!" Blue said, leaping into the passenger's seat with starry eyes and rosy cheeks. Viper raised an eyebrow at the other's excitement. He pushed the car from "park" into "reverse" and backed out of the motel parking lot.

They started off toward their first stop before the cabin; Blue occasionally talking into his camera. Viper couldn't stop the fond glow in his soul as he listened to his friend recount the stories they'd read the previous night, even inserting a comment or two himself. He couldn't deny that he'd missed seeing Blue like this; in front of a camera and entertaining the world. His friend really had been made for that world. He was upbeat and engaging in his storytelling and completely charming his followers and subscribers in with his somewhat loud and quirky personality.

The site they were headed to was supposedly only 20 minutes away from town, but this town was already fairly isolated. People occupied spaces thinned as they traveled deeper towards their destination. Where once an occasional house or farm stood, now clusters of oak and maple trees combined with untended undergrowth grew intertwined through shambling remains.

As they pulled up to the ranger's station, it occurred to Viper that this would be Blue's first major video project since the cafe incident last month. Sure, he'd made small updates like his ridiculous photo with his that damn bird (Kiki was a jealous shit and pecked at anyone who dared get close to Blue- including Swapy) and his autumn photo shoot, but this was the biggest thing he'd done since that fateful day.

The ranger's station was a plan looking wood and brick building. Dying trees with brown leaves swayed in the wind around the aged building. Fallen leaves crunched beneath the tires as Viper guided the car to a stop and parked in front of the door.

Everyone who visited the Respite was required to sign a waiver form and a date log book stating when they were to return from the site. Viper sighed and shut down the engine. Blue was still going on about the morbid history of the region when they stopped.

"Okay, so we're gonna head inside the station now. This is the last bit of civilization we're gonna see until Sunday." Blue shut down the camera and turned to Viper, nearly vibrating with his level of excitement.

"I actually can't believe we're here!" he shrieked. Viper winced at the volume. He really couldn't believe it either. He glared when a lone snowflake landed gracefully on the windshield.

"Yeah, hooray," he muttered. "Well, let's get this nightmare over with." he unbuckled his seat and stretched out his neck.

"I'm already exhausted and we haven't even made it there yet." Blue agreed happily and bounded out after Axe who'd teleported out of his place in the car.

Their adventure was finally beginning.

Ch/end


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: The beginning to the chapter can be found here:  post/189296369473/give-up-the-ghost-chapter-4-lexicon

Please ignore the fact that it says chapter two. I've combined and condensed all the chapter to make the flow of the story better.

Chapter two

"__In the desolate depths of a perilous place; the bogeyman lurks with a snarl on his face;__

_Never dare, never dare to approach his dark lair._

_For he's waiting... just waiting to get to you."- Jack Prelutsky; The Bogeyman_

Chara didn't know how long she sat with Papyrus. She felt her heart rip into pieces when the lanky skeleton started to sniff wetly. Papyrus almost __never__ showed his emotions, preferring instead to hide behind a smirk or a stupid joke. Hell, even Classic was more expressive than her dear friend. For Papyrus to breakdown like this, she knew that the stress he was under had to be immense.

"You should go to class," Pap whispered, hoarsely, clutching onto her hand like a lifeline. "You've missed too many days already," Chara yawned, wincing at the sun starting to peek through the living room curtains. She squeezed her friend tighter.

"I'm not leaving you Pap," she replied. "You need me here more than some college professor." She didn't know if it was her tone or if it was the words themselves but the final lock that had been keeping the damn up, broke and he began to weep in earnest. Chara held him as he cried, whispering what she hoped were words of comfort.

"Shh, shh, Papy, she said. "It's okay, I get it. Just let it all out." By the time the swap skeleton had cried himself out, Mettaton's new program had been replaced with their own Nabstabot's concert special. The Blue robot had decided to host an improptu charity event to raise money for the search aid in the back country. There was even supposed to be special guest appearance by the Ambassador of Monsters Frisk Dreemur. That got the human's attention. Frisk? Classic was coming here?

The original Human had left some time ago after they'd all graduated from high school. They'd all decided that since Frisk had come from the prime universe, then she should take on the responsibilities as the monster ambassador. At least that was Chara's argument anyway. They didn't need for inexperienced children running around the consulate. Frisk wasn't happy about it but never the less agreed once little Fell said that she would be happy to do it. (Fell wasn't actually younger that them, she was just somehow smaller than them). Not to mention that it would be a cold day in hell before Boss would ever allow his little human anywhere near politics.

As a result, the group very rarely got to interact with her since she spent most of her time in the capital with her kingly adopted father. To say that she missed the other human was a bit of an understatement. She had Frisk had gotten close during the "timeline incident" and there were times that it felt like Frisk was really the only person who understood what they went through during their time Underground.

No sooner had she thought about her best friend then Chara felt her phone buzz from her pajama pants pocket. The human shifted just enough to pull the device out. Papyrus sniffed wetly and glanced at her before turning back to the TV in exhaustion. Keeping a hand on the skeleton, Chara unlocked her phone to see the lone message from none other than the Monster Ambassador herself. Hesitantly, she clicked on the message.

"Noon. Coming over." it read. "We need to talk."

_Saturday: 10 am Viper's PoV_

Viper couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Sure, he could have written it off as Axe being his usual creepy self, but with how weird every one of the locals were being, he couldn't help but think that there was something else going on. He kept an eye on the woods surrounding their temporary shelter for the night. The wind had picked up, blowing the falling snowflakes around in flurries, making it difficult to see.

Out in the trees, he thought he could see shapes and shadows moving around in the distance. He shivered. Shadows were normal in the forest. With all the trees and nooks and crannies that they created. There could have been any number of small animals scurrying around looking for some place safe to wait out the storm. One shadow in particular was even more unnerving though. At first glance, it looked like a small sapling tree, surrounded by giants, but if he squinted at it, he could tell that it was definitely not moving the way a tree should be. It moved more like a person, with elongated limbs, like it didn't quite know what to do with arms or legs. Viper stared at it. Hoping and praying that it was just a trick of the light, the skeleton backed away toward the door. The shadow didn't move.

"Oh there you are Grandma," Blue said, once his friend walked through the door. "What took you so long?" Blue's voice sounded frustrated and it really wasn't hard to see why. Axe had apparently teleported directly into the cabin while they were still parking and was now sitting cross legged on a ratty, dusty sofa.

"Dude," he said sternly. "You've got to stop with the disappearing act. We all need to stick together out here." Blue sighed irritably and dropped his back pack onto the dirty wooden floor.

"Seriously. Haven't you ever heard of the buddy system?"

Axe seemed to think their worry unwarranted since his only response was to raise one of his cracked brow bones at his younger counterparts. Viper seriously had no idea what went on inside that warped skull of his.

"I was only scouting out the place," the freaky skeleton finally said with a shrug. "I wouldn't want to you accidentally walk in on a mass murderer chopping up his victims or anything."

'Right, because that doesn't make you sound like a psycho," Viper thought to himself.

"As helpful as that is," Blue said with a strained smile. "We could also use some help unloading the rest of the gear too." He sounded like he was starting to regret inviting Axe. Well maybe this would teach him to think about things before he jumped head first into them (but probably not).Axe nodded happily at the request and popped out of the room, presumably returning to the car.

Blue sighed and bent down to start unpacking the bag he'd brought in. He pulled out several different pieces of equipment that looked like they'd be more at home in a spaceship than in a creaky old cabin. Blue seemed to know what he was doing as he looked over each piece and set it aside with a nod. Viper left him to it and took in the rest of the room.

In a word? It was disgusting. Besides the ratty couch in the center of the room, there didn't seem to be much else in the way of furniture. The fireplace looked like it had seen much better days and really didn't safe. Maybe they could get Axe to look at it, it would be useful to be able to light a fire later that night if the snow continued falling the way it was.

There was a small kitchenette off to the side of the living room that held only moldy counters and cabinets. Like hell would Viper be putting any of their food in that room. He assumed the bedrooms were in the back of the cabin and really wasn't keen to check those out any time soon. He'd asked Blue later what the sleeping arrangements were going to be.

He shivered when a breeze from the broken window blew a few stray snowflakes into the room. He made his way toward the window to look out.

"The ranger said that we were the only ones out here this weekend right?" he asked looking out toward the forest. The shadow he'd seen earlier was gone, making him frown in concern.

Blue grunted from the floor. "Uh yeah?" he said. "Why see some sexy wood nymph out there or something?" Viper wrinkled his nose. Why did his friend's mind always go straight to the gutter.

"Why would you think something like that?" he asked. "And no, I just thought I saw a shadow staring at us from behind one of the trees." Blue looked up at him, startled. He snorted and went back to checking over his video equipment.

"C'mon Grandma," he laughed. "A few scary stories and now you're suddenly seeing shadows? What happened to the big tough fell monster?" Viper shot a glare over his shoulder.

"Fuck you," he spat. "I don't understand how you're not worried. People literally go missing and or are killed out here and all you care about is your stupid Instagram. Sorry if I'm the only one who actually cares about our safety." He cringed at the hurt that flashed through his best friend's eyes. Fuck. Open mouth, insert foot. Blue looked away from him and set down the camera he was holding. And there was the deflate that he'd been so happy was gone earlier. Fucking perfect.

He searched for some way to salvage the conversation. Before he could come up with anything, Axe blipped back into the room with the rest of their luggage wrapped in his magic and for some reason covered… in...ash?

"We can light a fire now I cleaned the chimney out," he chirped proudly. "And we can take a nap! Sleeping is always better than fighting." Viper felt his face darken with a blush. He didn't think he'd been that loud….

Blue smiled brightly at their companion, back hiding behind that stupid fucking happy mask of his.

"Thanks Buddy," he said. "wow, you managed to get the rest of it too? You're so freaking cool Axe." The older skeleton tilted his head and looked at him. Ugh, that tone was so fake, even the most oblivious monster in the room could see through it.

"There's still some cell service by the car," he said quietly. "You should call your brother and let him know that we've made it in one piece." Blue hesitated and nodded, standing up silently and walking past Viper out the door. He tried not to let it sting too badly when his friend refused to even acknowledge him on his way out, phone appearing in his gloved hands as if by magic.

"You won't get warm by standing in front of a broken window," came Axe's voice directly behind him. Viper jumped nearly a foot in the air at the other skeleton's sudden appearance.

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you?!" he shrieked, clutching at his rib cage and breathing hard. Axe didn't respond to Viper's exclamation, he simply turned around and walked back toward the large pile of luggage.

"I am going to set up the tent," he said. "You should sleep while you are able. Who knows how long Blue will want to film for, there is a lot to cover. We should be prepared for just about anything out here right?"

Viper blinked. That was probably the most he'd ever heard the older skeleton speak at one time.

"But, it's still daylight," he resisted the urge to pout like a child being told it's time for bed. He also didn't want the other to know how uncomfortable he was sleeping in such an unsettling area. Not to mention that Blue was probably really upset with him and he didn't want a repeat of the last time they had fought. He was surprised yet again, when he saw Axe's remaining eye light soften.

"I'll keep an eye socket out," he offered softly. "And make sure Blue goes to sleep soon too. You'll both be safe in this cabin. I promise." The younger monster shifted uneasily. Ugh, this guy was so freaking weird. Then again, he had offered to keep an eye on his best friend so…

"Fine but you only if you actually keep watch." he conceded and walked over to help Axe set up their tent.

_Tuesday 12:02 pm Chara's PoV_

Chara waited anxiously in the living room. She didn't know what she was more stressed about, the fact that Blue was missing out in the middle of god knows where and she could do nothing to help him, or the fact that she was going to see her best friend after three years apart because of it.

...yeah...it was definitely the first one…

Chara had changed into a simple pair of blue jeans and a long black sweater. She hadn't even bothered to brush her hair. What was Frisk going to do? Judge her?

She nearly shrieked when the doorbell rang. Jumping up quickly, she ran to the door. She'd finally convinced Swapy to go upstairs and sleep, which was seriously something that she never thought she'd do. Her heart ached for him and Pup and she was hoping that Frisk would know what to do.

The young human flung the door open and blinked at the person standing on the porch.

The young woman was dressed in a very familiar outfit of long black sports pants with a white stripe going up the side and an extremely over-sized blue hoodie jacket. She looked completely exhausted with dark circles under her honey brown eyes and her should length dark hair was unkempt and slightly curly.

"Frisk?" she breathed. The young ambassador took a hand out of her pocket and gave Chara a small wave.

"Heya Pal," she greeted tiredly. "Don't you know how to greet an old friend? The familiar phrase shook Chara out her stupor.

"Oh my god!" she squealed and tackled Frisk, nearly knocking them both to the snow covered concrete outside.

"You look like absolute trash," she laughed as the original human quickly steadied them. "I'm so happy to see you." The two girls hugged a while longer before breaking apart.

"Well, come in here you bumhead," Chara said wiping her eyes and holding the door open for her friend to go in. Frisk walked into the warm living room and sighed.

"This brings back memories," she commented softly, looking around the tidy room. "Although the last time I was invited into a skeleton's house, it was by a tall handsome fellow in a red scarf." The dark haired human stretched and popped her back.

Chara laughed and returned to her vacated spot on the sofa. She curled up and gestured for Frisk to join her.

"Speaking of Papyrus," Frisk asked hesitantly, sinking down next to her. "Where's yours at? I thought he'd be pacing a hole in the floor from all that nervous energy. Or does yours not do that?" Chara groaned and slammed her head back against the sofa cushion. Frisk looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Chara grumbled, crossing her arms. "but I sent him to bed and I really hope that he stays there. I'm pretty sure he's been awake since Monday." Frisk hummed in response and drew her legs up to rest her arms on her knees.

"Well then I'll just have to wait to fully explain what I think might be going on." she whispered. Chara glanced at her expectantly. Frisk sighed and refused to looked at her friend.

"I think Blue and Viper might be being hunted by a monster right now..."

_Viper's PoV_

_It was the smell that hit him first. Sure, there was the usual smell of dust and decay that tended to come with abandoned buildings, but this smell was slightly… off. It was there lying under the scent of rotten floorboards and moldy cabinets. This was- Viper's stomach flipped, bile rising up in his throat. He gagged and covered his nose with the sleeve of his jacket, hoping to not only block out the smell, but also the memories that it brought with it from his time as Captain of the Royal Guard. Never-the-less, he continued on into the house. Thank god they'd brought tents and sleeping bags because there was no way in ___hell___ he was going to spend the night in this place._

_The actual inside of the cabin was dimly lit from sunlight coming in from the dirty and cracked windows. They were standing in what looked like an entrance foyer or mud room so he couldn't see the full extent of the damage that nature had wrought on the house. There wasn't a single sound as Viper led the way into the house proper._

"_Blue, this is disgusting," he growled, his tone muffled by his sleeve. His friend made a similar noise behind him. He thought he heard the swap skeleton gag, but he paid no mind and shuffled into the room, despite the watering in his own eyes._

_Oh god, the smell was even worse in here. Viper tried to tell himself that it was just the normal rot and decay, more condensed because the cabin had been sitting unused for so long, but really there was no mistaking it._

_It was the smell of death._

_Blood mixed in with the decay and dust, things that any person; either monster or human; could pinpoint without ever experiencing it. It was rancid and Viper really wasn't sure how much more of it he could handle. He was damn sure that Blue wasn't going to be able to for much longer. But he convinced himself to go on, that he could take whatever was coming. Surely some kind of small game animal had simply found its way into the empty building and gotten trapped some where inside. That's what it had to be._

_The second that Viper emerged into the main area, he felt every ounce of gusto he'd built up, flee his body._

_It was not an animal. His soul was beating so hard that his rib cage hurt. Oh, it was so much worse that what he'd been imaging. He barely even heard Blue's gasp of absolute horror, so entranced was he by the gruesome scene displayed in front of him._

"_Viper…?" The swapfell skeleton blinked at Blue's whisper, his friend's voice falling flat against the dark stains on the wooden flooring_

_Dark brown, the blood was too thick and dried to remain its usual rusty red. Yet on of the dried blood was sticky and wet… fresher blood. It stuck to the bottom of his boots and left smeared foot prints on the floor as Viper and Blue wandered further into the horror show._

"_Oh, my god. Oh my god," Blue voiced exactly what Viper was feeling. Viper, their face. Look at their faces. Oh my fucking god. What the hell ___happened here?!" ___Blue sounded damn near hysterical now and really Viper couldn't blame him one fucking bit._

_There were maybe ten of them, but it was hard to tell with some of them. Viper shuddered, but forced himself to keep looking. To memorize the carnage around him. He'd seen some pretty gruesome deaths during his childhood and serving in the Royal Guard, but all of those of course had been monster deaths and their corpse hadn't lasted very long after they died._

_All these people had been human and it was his first time seeing bodies so...fleshy and… gooey. It was the most horrifying sight he'd ever seen._

_Spread throughout the room were the bodies of ten humans. They were all draped over various pieces of furniture in awkward positions, arm and legs in ways that Viper was positive that they weren't supposed to be. Their necks were bent at right angles and their faces… god, those expressions were going to haunt his nightmares for eternity. He didn't want to stare at their mangled corpses any longer but he needed to make sense of it._

_By the window, packed into a crack no bigger than their arm was a large man. He looked like he'd died trying to shove himself through the barely open window, oblivious to the blood and bits of flesh scraped from his body as he forced himself through the small space. The nausea was threatening to overwhelm both of the boys. What… what was this?_

_Crushed flesh and bone, puddles of blood seeped into the floorboards like juice squeezed from a ripe piece of fruit. Blue was behind, shaking so hard that it was a wonder that his legs didn't give out underneath him. A hand clutching at his back knocked him from his trance. He turned around and locked eyes with his best friend. He had a hand over his mouth in horror as he drank in the gory sight._

"_Where- where did they all come from?" Blue gasped out, breathing heavily. "No one is supposed to be out this far besides us. Oh god, who did this?"_

_It was time to leave. Blue was on the verge of a massive panic attack and he just couldn't stand to stay in this place any longer. They were finding Axe and going straight to the police and then going home. Viper took hold of Blue's trembling hand in his own and tried to lead the frightened skeleton out of the house. He barely trusted his own ears when he heard a lilting voice call out. He looked sharply at his friend, thinking that it was him. That had definitely been Blue's voice. From the terrified look in the swap skeleton's eyes, Viper could tell that he hadn't been the one to call out._

_Blue's eyes were the widest that he'd ever seen them. Filled with frightened tears, he pointed toward the center of the room. Viper raised an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder apprehensively._

_At first, it looked like just an ordinary show, so he was unsure what Blue was trying to show him. Then the shadow started moving and blinked its glowing white eyes at him._

_...wait...what…?_

_The shape molded and swirled until a twisted, gnarled grin formed on it's gloopy and oily face. Viper own face contorted into a disgusted grimace. Blue choked out a gasp and tried to hide behind his best friend._

"_Viper?"_

_so quiet, it almost slipped by him. But just like the smallest magical attack could still injure, the word slammed into them like a freight train. Because it wasn't just any word. No. It had said ___his ___name. ___Viper's name___ had come from it's mouth in ___Blue's ___voice no less._

"_Viper… don't… leave...me?"_

_Oh. Fuck. No._

_Without thinking, he grabbed onto Blue's arm and pulled. Neither of the skeleton monsters looked behind them, running and stumbling through the dense and foggy woods until they reached the car and slammed the doors closed. The...whatever… that thing continued to screech Viper's name at their backs. The two friends huddled closely together, both close to hyperventilating. Poor Blue was desperately trying to find a signal on his phone, all the while whispering his brother's name like he was the answer to all of their prayers. Viper didn't have the heart to remind him that the phone he was trying to dial on, had been broken since they ran from the cabin_

_Saturday 12:02 pm Viper's PoV_

He was shaking when he opened his eyes. Gulping down trembling breath after trembling breath, he sat up from the cocoon he built out of blankets. The dark fabric of the tent surrounded him. He cupped his skull in shaking hands and tried to calm his racing soul. What in the actual hell was that fucking nightmare?

All of those mutilated and mangled bodies… that shadow thing… Viper shuddered at the memory of that garbled voice screeching his name.

"Are you awake?" Viper yelped at Axe's voice.

"Why do you keep _doing that_?!" he shrieked. At this rate, he was going to have a heart attack before they even started exploring the site.

Axe's cracked and warped skull tilted and didn't reply… again. The two skeletons stared at each other for a full minute before Viper sighed in irritation and groaned into his hands.

"Whatever," he hissed. "Where's Blue at? I'd thought for sure he would be nagged at us to start his dumb video." He was surprised that the other hadn't woke him up sooner. Axe gave him what he assumed was a concerned glare.

"Blue is sitting outside." he said. "He doesn't want to come in but it is cold and he needs to eat." Viper froze. Blue's frightened eyes from his nightmare still fresh in his mind. He needed to see his friend right now.

"Where is he?" he demanded, trying; without success, to stand up in the small area. He shivered, claustrophobia suddenly pushing in on him. He shoved roughly the older monster and out of the tent. He winced at the brightness of the living room that streamed through the shattered windows. Ugh, how long had he been asleep anyway?

"He's on the porch." Axe said behind him. Viper squinted through the window that was right next to the front door. How had he missed a whole damn porch? He could just make out a blue lump hunched over and sitting on the steps.

The swapfell skeleton faltered on his way to the door. What if Blue didn't even want to talk to him? After what he'd said earlier? Viper shook his head. They were going to have to talk about it eventually, especially since they were pretty much stuck out here until the snow let up. And knowing his best friend, he wouldn't be the one to make the first move. He steeled his nerves, grabbed his jacket and wrenched open the creaky door.

Outside, Blue didn't even look up. He was huddled underneath a fluffy blue comforter. Viper caught the melancholic melody of "_Dying in L.A."_ playing softly through the other's ear phones. He winced as the lyrics of the song reached him. Fuck, Blue really was in a mood wasn't he? Viper swallowed. He hated when Blue got this down; he had no idea how to handle him when he got this way. And this time, he was pretty sure that he was the cause of it.

He thought for a moment about what he could possibly do. The bitter wind whistling around the two of them, he bit his lip as he came up with an idea. It wasn't a _great_ idea but it was all he had. With his soul pounding, he hesitantly approached his friend from behind. When he was less than a foot away, he reached out and embraced Blue in a tight hug.

He snickered when the skeleton in his arms jumped violently. Maybe Axe was on to something with his sudden appearances. He felt Blue reach up and remove his earphones.

"V-viper?" he stammered. "What the hell are you doing out here? You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were sleeping inside." Viper huffed. Blue's voice was soft and raspy. It almost sounded like he'd been out here crying. Alone. He squeezed tighter.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have called your video stupid. I know how much your YouTube project mean to you." Blue started trembling in his grasp.

"Shh," Viper whispered soothingly. "I'm sorry, Blue." his friend clutched at the arms folded around his rib cage. The two friends stayed like that watching the snow fall and burying the ground and their surroundings with a thick blanket of white fluff. Blue continued to sniffle softly all the while. God Viper couldn't feel anymore guilty.

"Tell me what's going on inside that head of yours Blue," he asked in earnest. "Why is this one video so important when you have so many other options available?" Blue let out a small sob and held onto his best friend like he was a lifeline in a storm torn sea.

"I just want to feel okay again," he finally choked out. "I feel like I've lost a piece of my soul and can't even go a day without the reassurance of my big brother." Viper let him talk. Blue had probably been sitting on this for a while now.

"I thought I could do this." Blue continued. "That if I made my channel into something...more than just me prancing around, then maybe I'd feel like less of a fucking failure or a burden to you guys."

Well fuck. So that's what this was really about. That stupid asshole who yelled at him last month at the cafe. He _knew_ that it still bothered him, no matter how many times Blue told them otherwise. Hell it still pissed _him_ off when he thought about it. Viper really wished Blue had let him hunt that asshole down and give him a piece of his mind.

"Dammit, Blue," he growled. "Why didn't you just tell me? I hate the thought of you dealing with these emotions alone. You know damn well that not a single one of us think that about you." Blue sniffed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, settling against his friend. Viper was always so shocked at how comfortable with his friends Blue could be. They were sitting on the worn and rotting porch of a lonely abandoned cabin in the middle of bum fuck nowhere during a _snowstorm_, practically _cuddling_ and the swap skeleton wasn't batting an eyelight. "I'm such an idiot"

"No you're not," Viper replied. He let go of Blue and slid down to sit next to him instead. "You've had a rough couple of months. That doesn't make you an idiot. _Everyone _has bad spells. But you've got so many people out there supporting you. I wouldn't be out here otherwise. You even got fucking _Axe_ to come out here."

Blue nudged him. "Gross, stop," he laughed wetly. "You sound like my brother, it's weirding me out." Viper couldn't picture Swapy saying anything like that but he'd made his friend smile so he played along.

"Don't compare me to that asshole." he growled playfully, nudging Blue back. Blue laughed lightly. They quieted down and just watched the swirling storm around them, content in each others company.

_Tuesday 12:25 pm Chara's PoV_

Chara blinked, still trying to process what she'd just heard. The words just weren't computing.

"I… don't understand." she said. "What makes you say that? Why would a monster do something like? Frisk hummed a response as she tapped out a message on her phone.

"I didn't say that they were from the Underground," she pointed out matter-of-factly. That confused Chara even more. She leaned back against the couch cushions and groaned.

"What does that even _mean_," she complained. "Why are you always so freaking cryptic?" Frisk laughed and swept her dark hair out of her eyes. Chara sent her a dirty look.

"I'm sorry," Frisk apologized. "I forget how weird I get when I'm tired. We've been going non stop up at the embassy. I'm lucky that I was able to get away for as I did." Chara narrowed her eyes.

"And how _did _you manage to sneak away? I would have thought that the all important Ambassador and Princess of Monsterkind would have an entourage of guards tracking her every move. Yet, here you sit, completely alone, all dolled up in your boyfriend's clothes." Frisk raised her eyebrow at her friend.

"Okay, one," she said holding up a single finger. "Imply that Sans the Skeleton is my boyfriend one more time and I might be tempted to end your existence. And two, the Italian Ambassador's aid helped me sneak out. She's really sweet and as it turns out is a _huge_ fan of Starboy123." The dark haired human couldn't stop the bark of laughter at the look of incredulous disbelief on her friend's face.

"It's a strange life we lead," she chuckled. Chara shook her head.

"That's the understatement of the century," she grumbled. "You gonna elaborate on what you said before?" Frisk opened her mouth to reply when the girls heard a shuffling from the stairs. They turned to see Papyrus leaning over the guardrail with a lazy grin on his face. His clothes were rumpled with sleep and the bone around his dim eyelights was slightly reddened as if the man had been crying- which in all fairness, he probably had been, his baby brother was missing.

"Pap?" Chara gasped. How long had the skeleton been standing there watching them? "You're supposed to be sleeping you ridiculous skeleton!" Papyrus raised one of his delicate browbones

"Oh, don't let me interrupt," he quipped. "If I'd known we'd have such an important guest, I would have _swapped_ out my good jacket."

The girls snorted at the poor attempt at humor from the stressed out monster. Frisk gave Chara a look and answered with one of her own. "Don't change on my account, Papyrus, I prefer the _classics." _it got a small laugh out of the older man. Chara rolled her eyes at the two of them. Well, if nothing else, then at least Frisk could help keep Paps grounded until they found Sans.

"If you're going to keep running your mouth, then just get down here and sit." Chara yelled up to her friend before the pun fest could continue. "Frisk was just about to explain what she thinks happened to Sans and Viper." The sentence was barely out of her mouth before there was a loud '_pop' _beside them. The elder skeleton had teleported directly in between the girls and stretched out.

"Well don't keep us in suspense, Princess," Papyrus' voice sounded calm but Chara could detect an underlying hint of desperation in it. She really hoped that Frisk could help. Without Sans, Paps seemed much more lethargic and apathetic about life. It seemed like the younger monster really was the guiding light of Paps' life.

Frisk gave the lanky man a sympathetic stare. "Well, keep in mind that this is just a working theory and all I've really got to go on are legends and a handful of other missing persons reports." The other two were silent as she started her explanation.

"Have you heard about the Missing 411 phenomena that's been recently documented?" Chara vaguely recalled Sans talking about something similar before he went off on his trip. Papyrus however had no idea.

"Well it's a theory by an ex-police officer that helps explain the mysterious disappearances of thousands of people. These people tend to go missing in broad daylight, mostly in national parks and nature reserves all over the world. What makes these cases so unique is that these people end up missing while they are surrounded by other patrons of the parks, yet there are often time no traces of where they might have gone or even what happened to them."

"Well, that definitely sounds like Sans," Chara said carefully. "But how does that help _us? _Aren't most 411 cases unsolved?" Papyrus was absolutely silent, eyeslights completely dark.

Frisk sighed. "Well yes, but those that are solved, the victims are usually found in places that they have no business being, or end up miles away from where they went missing, confused and unsure of how they got to their ending destination." She gripped onto Papyrus' jacket, hoping to shake him out of his shock.

"But I swear that's not why I brought it up." she hurriedly continued. "Some of these disappearances are usually connected in some way to ancient legends from the humans that lived there. A lot of people write these legends off as just that, but as we remember, the stories about Mt Ebott were all rumored to be legends as well."

"Yeah, and we all saw how that worked out," Chara muttered. Frisk grunted an affirmation.

"Exactly. Which brings me to my main point-"

"You think my brother is being hunted by another monster. One not from the Underground." Papyrus interrupted in a choked whisper. Frisk nodded and started rubbing soothing circles on his arm.

"Yes," she said softly. "The legends that surround these stretches of land are ripe with what I've been calling _Human Monsters_ or monsters that originate from the vices of humanity. Creatures like the Yee Naaldlooshii or the Skin-walker from Navajo folklore or even the Wendigo. They are known to walk the forests and lands around this areas. Both creatures are created from a desire of either revenge or extreme hunger. Both are able to mimick their prey in a variety of ways, such as speech, or appearance. Some stories say that they can infiltrate dreams as well. However, there isn't much known about them beyond that; the first peoples' are incredibly hush hush about them."

"What we do know however, is that the Skin-walker is generally created through dark magic by a human witch, and a Wendigo summoned when a person is on the verge of starvation."

Chara blinked at her friend and pursed her lips. "So…. What you're saying is that Sans and Viper may have wandered into the den of an evil witch who can shape-shift into anything they want and has a carnivorous pet with a taste for sentient beings?" she tried to sum up. Frisk shrugged.

"Pretty much. I did some research about the Black Rock region and you know what I found?" Chara snorted, knowing exactly what her friend was about to say.

"Let me guess. White man came and murderized thousands of native people so now there's a curse upon the land." Frisk giggled.

"Got it in one," she admitted. "More specifically, after losing a battle, one of the chief literally said that if any living being ever tried to settle on the land, they would meet a fate worse than death. After that, there are literally dozens of stories and cases of people going missing or even _dying _in strange and disturbing ways."

The trio fell silent following the young ambassador's explanation. Outside, the sun shone brightly, casting its warming rays onto the people going about their daily lives. Inside the swap brother's home however, the temperature seemed to drop into the negatives and the only sound was the soft rattle coming from Papyrus' trembling bones. Chara couldn't tell if it in anger or whether the older skeleton was terrified of what they'd just heard. The thought of her beloved friends battling against some terrifying supernatural being certainly didn't sit well with her.

"So..." Papyrus finally spoke up. "humans are responsible for my brother going missing?" Oh well, looks like it was anger then. And well, at this point Chara couldn't really blame him.

"Well, yes and no," Frisk said. "I mean, yes these creatures may have started out as vengeful human beings. But at this point, they've lost whatever humanity they had. Once a person has chosen to become _Yee Naaldlooshii _then that's game over. It's like gaining a lot of LoVe all at once. They no longer feel compassion, sadness, fear. To them, any being that steps into their territory is like free exp. They don't see a sentient being, they see a trespasser or even a hearty meal."

Chara flopped over the arm on her side of the couch wishing not for the first time that she could just reset everything back to before Sans had decided to become an impromptu explorer. She knew she couldn't though. She'd made a promise after all.

_Saturday 1:14 pm Viper's PoV_

Blue just had to interrupt their peaceful moment one of his question.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" he asked. "You looked pretty freaked out like you thought I'd abandoned you here with Axe." Viper pursed his...well not lips. He was a skeleton after all, they didn't have any lips. In any case, he narrowed his… mouth...bones… and lightly shoved at his friend, his nightmare coming back to the forefront of his mind.

"Don't even joke about that. Axe is fucking creepy." he grumbled. "I just had bad dream and needed to get my bearings again. Blue's eyelights softened in sympathy.

"Aw man, that sucks, Grandma," he said. "Do… do you want to talk about it?" Viper shrugged, embarrassed and stared out at the snow burying the bright orange of Swapy's car.

"We walked into a cabin and found some messed up shit," he didn't really want to tell him the whole thing.

"Is that all?" Blue questioned him skeptically. "I mean, we've seen plenty of messed up shit before.

"Well yeah," Viper hesitated. Not for the first time he found himself really wishing that his friend wasn't so fucking curious. "But this was way worse. And there was this goopy shadowy thing that kept screaming my name in your voice." Blue sat up completely straight and stared at him intently. Viper pulled back, trying to get him out of his personal space. Blue was studying him with narrowed sockets.

"You were worried about me, weren't you." he said flatly. Viper blinked, then sighed in irritation. Stupid perceptive skeleton.

"It was just some stupid nightmare. Probably a result of us arguing earlier that's all." Blue shrugged and thankfully dropped the subject.

"Still, that's pretty messed up, Dude." he replied. "Damn, this stuff is really coming isn't it? Reminds me of Snowdin back when we lived Underground." Viper hummed in agreement, thinking the same thing.

"If it keeps up like this, we might be stuck out here longer than just tonight." he commented. And wasn't that a worrying statement.

"Don't worry so much, Grandma," his friend said. "We still have the radio remember? And I highly doubt that my brother would leave us out at the mercy of the elements for that long." Viper scoffed. Well there was _that _at least. If Swapy had even the slightest inkling that they were unsafe, he'd be out here faster than a bullet train. That thought really did settle his nerves quite a bit. Swapy may have been super annoying at times, but he was also extremely protective of the people he cared about. Still, the way the shadows were bouncing off the trees was still making him uneasy, especially after having that nightmare.

"We should probably go back inside," he said in lieu of a reply. "It's getting colder out here and I don't know about you, but I really don't want to leave McCreeper alone for too long. Who knows what that weirdo is doing." Blue laughed but agreed and stretched his limbs and neck out.

"Oh C'mon Viper," he standing standing up and adjusting his blanket cape around his shoulders. "He's actually not that bad. I think he's just… really lonely… and doesn't know how to act around normal people. His universe is pretty fucked remember?"

Viper rolled his eyelights, standing up as well. "Blue, if you're what's considered 'normal' then I must be a cat."

"Hey!"

ch/end


End file.
